


Mass Effect: Theory

by fresh_hanana



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types
Genre: Citadel Time, Galactic Standard Time, Geological Activity, Worldbuilding, because it is confusing, elaaden, tidal lock
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-17 00:45:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14176899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fresh_hanana/pseuds/fresh_hanana
Summary: Breaking down all of the confusing bits about living in a galaxy spanning community. Not an actual story.





	1. Galactic Standard Time/Citadel Time

Citadel Time = Galactic Standard Time  
= Thessian Day = 27.6 Earth hours (27hr, 36min)

They use a “Decimal Time” system where;  
2 cycles (day/night) in one 20 Galactic Standard Time Hour day  
Each cycle is 10 GSTH long  
Each GSTH is 10 Galactic Standard Time Minute long  
Each GSTM is 10 Galactic Standard Time Second long

Telling Time:  
If you are meeting someone for brunch, you might say:  
“I will see you at the restaurant at eighty-five AM.”  
The time there being five minutes into the eighth hour of the day cycle. 

If you are determined to not leave the club until the next day cycle begins, you might say:  
“Naw, bro, I ain’t leaving here till the clock strikes zero.”  
As the first hour of the day and night cycle is called hour zero or “oh” if the time were two minutes past hour zero, you would say “oh-two AM” or “oh-two PM” depending.

If you are putting an unruly five year old in time-out, you might say:  
“I better not see your bottom leave that seat for two whole seconds, mister”  
Understanding that 2 seconds is closer to two earth minutes. 

 

How this compares to Earth hours:

27.6 earth hours/ day * 1 day/ cycle = 13.8 EH/ cycle (13 hours, 48 minutes)

13.8 EH/ cycle * cycle/ 10 GSTH = 1.38 EH/ 1 GSTH (1 hour, 22 minutes, 48 seconds)

1.38 EH/ 1 GSTH * 1 GSTH/ 10 GSTM = .138 EH/ 1 GSTM (8 minutes, 17 seconds)

.138 EH/ 1 GSTM * 1 GSTM/ 10 GSTS = .0138 EH/ 1 GSTS (50 seconds)

So;  
One day on the Citadel is 27 hours and 36 minutes long  
One cycle is 13 hours and 48 minutes long  
One hour is 1 hour, 22 minutes, and 48 seconds long  
One minute is 8 minutes and 17 seconds long  
One second is 50 seconds long 

 

How this *might* work in real life:

There are 4 work shifts in the day, each 5 hours long with a required five minute break

First shift is from zero AM to 50 AM  
Second shift is from 50 AM to zero PM  
Third shift is from zero PM to 50 PM  
Fourth shift is from 50 PM to zero AM

Professional shifts are from 70 AM to 30 PM - typically with an hour break.

Retail hours are typically 20 hours, but peak hours happen from 50 AM to 50 PM 

…. Of course, 5AM could be noon… with hour 1 being the “first hour of the sun” - and if this were based off of Palaven time, I might lean that way, as they are way more culturally invested in the sun than I believe Asari are… BUT the Asari found the Citadel first, so it is their standard time we shall use.


	2. Elaaden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am eternally intrigued by tidally locked planets, and wanted to explore what this would mean for life aboard a tidally locked moon!   
> Basically, things about to get real for New Tuchanka.

From the Codex:

“Elaaden is the scorching desert moon of a gas giant. Identified on the initiative charts as Habitat 2. Elaaden was considered a “golden world” despite its harsh conditions, because of the moon’s vast mineral wealth. Tidal gravitational effects cause plumes of sodium silicate to erupt from Elaaden’s core, depositing unusually pure silicon sand across the surface -- invaluable for manufacturing high-performance computer hardware.

Orbital surveys show that contrary to projections, Elaaden is almost devoid of water vapor, making long-term settlement or mining efforts unlikely. Those who live on Elaaden face a constant struggle for survival. Able to thrive in environments that would kill most organic species in days, the krogan who departed the Nexus have established a colony on Elaaden and defend their sovereignty fiercely. The Nexus advises travelers to avoid Elaaden if possible.”

Things that I want to point out:

1\. Elaaden is a tidally locked moon  
2\. Elaaden is geologically active

Elaaden is a tidally locked moon. It orbits an unnamed gas giant in the Zaubray System. Being tidally locked simply means that one side of the moon is always facing the planet. Its orbital period is 44.4 earth years. That means it takes the moon 44.4 years to go all the way around the planet. Which is BONKERS, but this is fiction, so we'll roll with it. Our moon completes this journey in 29.5 days, which compared to other moons in our solar system, is pretty long. 

What this means:  
“Day” and “Night” on Elaaden last 22.2 years

The Initiative colonists found Elaaden during one of its day cycles where temperatures ranged from 55*C in the shade to 99*C in direct light. (131*F to 210*F) Our moon reaches these temperatures as well, so we can extrapolate how cold it is going to get at night: -173*C (-279*F). 

But the Pathfinder resets the Remnant Vaults and temperatures fall to more manageable ranges. 

“WHAT? HOW??!!” you might ask. 

Atmosphere scrubbers aren’t going to do the trick here, instead, we move to point 2. Elaaden is geologically active, that is fancy talk for volcanoes/earthquakes. 

“...plumes of sodium silicate to erupt from Elaaden’s core...”

*minor issue here, Sodium Silicate is not a metamorphic rock. So it would not “Erupt from Elaaden’s core,” as cool as that sounds. BUT there are these things called Sand Boils (sand volcanoes) which occur in earthquake prone areas that have decent water tables (subsurface water). They are kind of like zits formed when air gets under liquefied soil and one thing lead to another and they pop. Mildly terrifying, but great ways to bring sodium silicate to the surface. 

Back on track. 

Elaaden has earthquakes, which is a great thing. Being geologically active means that the planet, or earth-sized moon in this case, has a molten core. Scientist believe that having a molten core is one of the reasons why Earth spins as fast as it does and Mars doesn’t. Spinning equals a functioning magnetosphere, which means a healthy atmosphere. 

Spin too slowly, and your magnetosphere starts weakening which leads to big swings in temperatures and a decrease in geological activity. The earth, for example is gradually slowing down due to the tidal forces of our moon and sun, eventually the earth will become tidally locked with the sun, and we will all fry… you know… in billions of years. 

My theory is that the Rem-Tech somehow induces a greater convection in the core, making the moon spin faster, this would tug against the tidal forces and make the orbit speed up. It would also buff up the magnetosphere, which would reduce the amount of light that would reach the surface of the moon, making the planet cooler. The atmosphere would then be able to bounce back some of that heat to the planet at night making the nights warmer. 

Still not the best place to live, but definitely better. 

 

Except night is coming, and geological activity is going to increase…


End file.
